Live Coverage: 'Sherlock' at Comic-Con: Panel live blog

Team Digital Spy has made it to Comic-Con 2013, and oh boy, do we have an exciting first panel. It's only blooming Sherlock! Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and Sue Vertue have traveled to San Diego to give us some hints about what's coming up...

Will we find out the title of episode three? Will there be any news on Sebastian Moran? Will we get any glimpses at footage? Join us from 2.15pm PT / 5.15pm ET / 10.15pm BST as we find out...

15:11Mark pays tribute to the rest of the team over the last few years - and in particular, Paul McGuigan. But that's it for the very enjoyable panel. Are you even more excited about the new episodes now? We certainly are!

15:09What is everyone's favorite moment from the first two seasons? Steven loves the last 20 minutes of the two finales (I do wonder why!). His favorite whole episode is 'Scandal' - and Mark agrees. "It's beautiful," he says. "It's emotionally very charged - it's tremendously satisfying." And he says it's simple: "It has a complete sense of its own drive. I think it's really, really good."

15:08How does the third season compare to seasons one and two? Steven says they'll either sound "defeatist" or "arrogant" by answering! "I think it's really good," he says. "I think it's different - it's moved on a bit." He suggests they're more "human and real" but there are some scenes they would "never have contemplated" putting in previous seasons. Mark says there's a lot of "fun" and some of their "favorite stuff": "Whole scenes that were great fun to write."

15:07Mark says he thinks the relationship between Molly and Sherlock is "touching" - "She's one of the few people he actually trusts." Steven says that he didn't intend to 'add' anything to Sherlock but they loved Molly so much that it "grew under its own steam".

15:06Are we going to see a friendship evolve between Molly and Sherlock? Steven says Molly's one of the few people he trusts. And he points out how Molly always wins, humanises him and tells him off! "I don't think they're going to end up dating - two sociopaths in one relationship would not be good - but it's a proper friendship." "It's not going to go the way Tumblr thinks it's going to go," Sue jokes.

15:04We're moving on to questions about the new Doctor - is there anything to the speculation it could be a woman? Steven pretends that his microphone has stopped working!

15:04"I like Batman by the way - I just slagged him off because I don't like his show," Steven clarifies.

15:04The next fan is getting cheers for suggesting Benedict as The Master. But he wants to know who would solve a mystery faster - Sherlock, Batman, or the Doctor. "Batman would be absolutely lost," Steven says - adding that the crime would not get solved because of the "bitch fight" that would ensue. Mark loves these questions - they're the sort he used to ask when he was five.

15:03What about romance for Sherlock? "Sex with Sherlock happens up here," Steven says, pointing at his brain. He's not convinced of the possibility: "The Irene Adler thing was a very particular thing."

15:01"He looks really very dashing now," Mark continues. Steven adds that people get better looking as they get more famous!

15:01The next question - will Benedict's physical transformation for Star Trek be a problem? But Mark says before the second series he looked "bulkier" because of Frankenstein, and it's not been a problem this time around. "He gets more handsome every year," he adds - to plenty of applause.

15:00Mark loves it when there's something that seems incidental and then turns out to be huge - like the plane in 'A Scandal in Belgravia'.

14:59Mark says they're always thinking about "big" storylines because the episodes are movie-length, so they need a big scale. Sue adds that they sometimes put bits in and take them out again.

14:58Steven says most of the stories would only give you 20 minutes of screentime, so he's more interested in the "moments" in the stories, like The Engineer's Thumb. Mark says he'd love to do The Red Headed League - and jokes he could wear a red wig to cover up the gaps! And Steven loves The Speckled Band because it basically makes no sense.

14:56Steven says he would love to tell Doyle how his stories were pretty much the best of their kind, and how he invented television in a way. I think they're both big fans. Sue says on several occasions the pair get stuck, but figure it out as soon as they've gone back to the original stories. "He's covered it all, he's brilliant," Steven says.

14:56If they could hijack the TARDIS and speak to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, what would they say? "What are you doing with my TARDIS?" Steven quips. Seriously, Mark says they owe everything to the "genius" Doyle, so he'd like to say: "Thank you - but by the way, spiritualism is not true."

14:55We're on to fan questions now - will the trio do more projects together in the future? Mark says all their time is occupied at the moment, but Steven says definitely in the future. "Obviously Sue and I have raised children and a sitcom, and Mark and I have done the same," he jokes. "It's controversial, but a medical miracle, frankly."

14:53Mark says he loves the idea of Sherlock and Martin "growing older" together with "aches and pains". That does sound kind of adorable, right?

14:53Steven says that you don't have to make loads of episodes in one go and get sick of it - why not make loads of episodes over lots of years so no-one gets suffocated by it?

14:52Mark says that because there's such a huge gap in between episodes, Benedict and Martin can go off and make big movies ("or in Martin's case, one long movie") and then come back to do the show they love. Nice.

14:52Mark jokes that they're not going to do a cliffhanger which means they have to go back 18 months later and try to replicate it! They've done that twice, and it's hard.

14:51Does series three end in a cliffhanger? What a question. "The answer to that question is itself a cliffhanger," Steven jokes. He says we'll be watching saying: "They wouldn't stop it there, would they? Dear God, they wouldn't stop it there would they?" And repeat.

14:51What will Sherlock's reputation be like now? Mark says he can't really say, but there's a lot of "housekeeping" in episode one so that they can move on to other things.

14:50Mark says it's only when he encounters Moriarty that Sherlock realizes he's on the side of the good guys. "The slow humanisation John encourages is all part of it," he adds.

14:50On to whether Sherlock is a sociopath. Steven says that's just a "convenient" way for Sherlock to get away with things! But he says Sherlock's realized he's "comparatively nice" compared to Moriarty...

14:49So I'm not allowed to tell you ANYTHING about the content, but I'm sure I'm okay to say that was brilliant. That unique Sherlock charm and humor is back - with both huge laughs and huge "awwws" from the crowd. The applause afterwards went on for ages. Amazing.

14:45We're about to see a non-finished bit from the second episode, but we've all been told to turn off cameras etc. And I'm not allowed to discuss the content, either!

14:44Sue is talking about how the duo have graduated to their own trailers, but makes the mistake of saying they were in a "threeway" in the first series. Oo-er!

14:44Mark agrees that Benedict is very "puppyish" and "bumbly" (awws from the crowd) while Martin is "direct". He suggests that they should swap costumes and see what happens!

14:43What would fans be surprised about regarding the stars? "Violence, the mood swings, the clown costumes," Mark jokes. He says Benedict and Martin have a great chemistry, but are very different people. "But they're a really good laugh and it all transfers onto the screen," he adds. Steven says that Benedict is the "goofy" one and Martin is "very sardonic and dry".

14:42What should we conclude from 'The Sign of Three' and 'wedding'? Steven tells us to keep watching for a "treat"!

14:41So, on to 'Rat', 'Wedding', 'Bow' and episode one - 'The Empty Hearse'. Mark says the episode's only a little based on 'The Empty House' - it's got "essentially" a different plot. But the most important thing is the impact of Sherlock's return, especially on John.

14:40On the movie possibilities, Steven jokes that they take a lot of time to set up - and they wouldn't want to reduce the quantity they're making even more! He does point out that they now suddenly have two of the biggest British film stars in their show - and they probably wouldn't get them if they were starting Sherlock now.

14:38Steven's joking about Sue letting slip that there was going to be a second series on a breakfast show - despite being warned not to!

14:38What about those rumors of a fourth series? Steven says Benedict's probably the biggest 'yes' they need, but he doesn't really have any commissioning power... Sue confirms John and Benedict are optioned for the fourth series (to loads of applause.)

14:37What about the relationship between Mycroft and Sherlock? Mark says everything between them comes from a point of "caring".

14:36Mark says that in the Conan Doyle stories, John forgives Sherlock very quickly. That's not going to happen in the show! "We wanted to explore how it really affected all of his friends and family," he says.

14:35Steven jokes it would be a waste of a scene if Moriarty was still alive. "Were you faking? I was faking too!"

14:35Would they ever kill Sherlock and John off? Steven doesn't seem to think so: "He'd just pop back up behind another tree!" Mark says people always want to feel that the duo will be in Baker Street.

14:33It's a "joy and a delight", according to Steven (and "extremely funny"). He also reaffirms that we'll get an answer, but not without some teasing!

14:32Steven says people should really be most excited about when John and Sherlock meet again - and the crowd's cheers seem to back him up! Mark promises the scene is "electrifying"; Steven calls it a "showstopper" and a "lengthy sequence". It might be his favorite Sherlock moment!

14:32Steven refuses to comment on the online speculation because they'll give too much away. "It's a rational explanation," he promises - explaining that they knew the answer from the start (and we'll see that when the answer is revealed).

14:31Steven promises we can figure out the ending from what we've seen. "What's keeping you all?" Mark adds that it's not "black magic" - there are only a few ways you can fall off a roof and survive.

14:30Steven says he knew everyone would be speculating about the cliffhanger ending: "People are going to be so cross!" He admits he was frightened. And Mark points out that "communal viewing" is rare these days, which added to the joy of it all.

14:28Benedict is now jokingly explaining how Sherlock faked his death with the use of soft toys. Unfortunately, the signal is 'lost'. It's really quite a sweet, funny little video and it's going down a storm with the crowd.

14:27Mark Gatiss jokes that he has an 18-page letter from the stars. He does not. What he does have is a cute video from Martin and Benedict saying hello! (Martin advises the crowd to tear the execs' clothes and hair in a rabid search for answers.) You can barely hear the beginning of Benedict's message through all the squeals. His is jokingly about how he thinks he's promoting his other projects. He even lets an F-word slip - racy!

14:25"One of them is a high-functioning sociopath, the other is a Hobbit." That's Steven's reasoning for Benedict and Martin's absences!

14:24Here we go - Sue Vertue, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat take to the stage. And the applause is massive. There's a lot of love for Sherlock in San Diego!

14:22We're just about to begin! And the excitement in this room is huge. What are we about to find out?